After enduring two failed attempt to pass construction bond measures since 2008, Banks School District leaders are hoping the third time's a charm.

The district school board voted Monday to place a $10.5 million measure on the May 17 ballot.

The proposal is a heavily scaled-back version of two previous bond measures that failed after voters voiced concern with the cost. Most recently, the district's $25.98 million bid in was defeated by 10 percentage points in November.

A near identical $25.5 million measure also failed in 2008.

Banks Superintendent Jim Foster said he's optimistic the more modest price tag of the current measure will change voters' minds.

"They already have a good idea of what this bond is all about, based on what we did in November," Foster said. "It's just we're taking a lot of the high school off the table."

The November measure would have paid to tear down and replace instructional portions of the high school and middle school, remodel the current district offices and re-purpose them as classrooms and library space for the high school, and conduct myriad maintenance and repairs.

The latest measure completely cuts out plans to renovate the high school. Instead, it allocates $6.6 million to rebuild much of the junior high school, with the remaining money pegged for other projects throughout the district, Foster said.

"We will address the high school somewhere down the road in the future," Foster said. It's just too much of a tax burden to put on the taxpayers in the current economy."

Banks officials have applied for a federal interest-free loan to finance the bond, but Foster said he's not counting on the money. Banks is on a waiting list behind other districts – including Tigard-Tualatin – that have been approved for a chunk of Oregon's $70 million pot of federal stimulus loans.